Normally, usage peaks in the evening when most people are home from work or school and are watching videos or playing online games.

But now, providers say, it’s all day long as millions of people are engaged in video-conferencing and online learning while they’re following the state’s stay-at-home order.

In the Milwaukee area, some internet users have reported slow speeds and drops in service throughout the day, bumping them off video conferences. In rural areas, people have complained about speeds that are barely usable for anything other than simple web searches or checking email.

Charter Spectrum customers say they’ve experienced lengthy waits to reach someone in customer service, or if they’ve called about online school programs they’ve gotten a recorded message telling them to try back later.

The company says its networks are built to handle the extra traffic.

“Our representatives are working around the clock to help new customers get connected for online learning, telecommuting and more, as well as handling billing questions during this unprecedented situation,” Charter Spectrum said in an email to the Journal Sentinel.

“We appreciate our customers’ patience, and also encourage them to use the tools available at spectrum.net for common topics like connecting to a wireless network and changing their password.”

In response to the surge in demand for an internet connection, providers have set up free mobile hot spots that people can use with a laptop while sitting in their car in a parking lot.

Some have put up portable signs telling people where to park and how to access Wi-Fi from their vehicle.

In a new ruling, the Federal Communications Commission says schools can keep their wireless networks turned on for the public even while the buildings are closed – giving users access from the street or parking lots.

“But it means that people are leaving their home when they shouldn’t be. We need a better system than this,” said Christopher Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self Reliance, a Minneapolis nonprofit that assists communities with internet access issues.

“Some rural areas don’t have service available at all, or many people can’t afford it. There’s no way to solve this problem in the next two months,” Mitchell said.

FCC asks providers to not disconnect anyone

Some of the largest internet providers that had data caps on their service have waived those limits to accommodate the millions of Americans now working from home.

The FCC has asked providers to not disconnect anyone if they’re unable to pay their bill in the next 60 days as millions of people have been put out of work. Hundreds of providers have agreed to follow the Keep America Connected pledge, said Keefe John, CEO of Ethoplex, a broadband service provider in Germantown.

“Our phones are ringing off the hook from people wanting service. Either they never had it before, or they were using a hot spot and now need a more permanent connection,” John said.

“We are experiencing the highest usage we’ve ever seen. We just talked with one family where the parents were both working from home using videoconferencing, and they had three kids doing video-based online learning. They needed a lot of bandwidth for all five of them to be online at the same time,” he added.

Systems could be even more stressed if the pandemic continues into the summer or a storm knocks out service.

“I think it will be challenging, but we are looking at upgrades we can do quickly to help alleviate some of the strain on the network,” John said.

Madison-based TDS Telecom, which operates in 35 states, says its system is holding up well under the torrent of traffic.

“Our metaphor has been that we are flying the plane as we’re building it and increasing altitude,” said Drew Petersen, senior vice president for corporate affairs.

About a third of the company’s 3,000 employees are in the field installing or upgrading service.

TDS is taking many precautions, but, “We are asking our customers to be patient and respectful of the fact that our employees are putting themselves in harm’s way in order to provide an essential service,” Petersen said.

Often, it’s not necessary to have a technician come to your home to solve an internet problem. Many factors can affect home Wi-Fi, including the location of the router, the capability of individual connected devices, and whether a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is used.

Stream video in standard definition rather than HD. Turn off background apps and close websites when not in use.

Many of the slowdowns or glitches people are experiencing could be from overloaded websites and online services, such as Microsoft Teams video, and aren’t the fault of the internet provider.

Shortly after Gov. Tony Evers released his list of essential industries and businesses, for instance, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.’s website crashed from the torrent of hits.

“That’s not an issue with your local service provider,” said Bill Esbeck, executive director of the Wisconsin State Telecommunications Association.

Rushing to connect new customers, some providers are laying fiberoptic cable on the frozen ground, with plans to return and bury it later in the spring. When someone in a home is ill, the provider may leave the modem and router on the porch for the customer to connect themselves with help over the phone.

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Rural Wisconsin still struggles with broadband

Nationwide, the federal government has poured billions of dollars into improving rural broadband service using a variety of technologies including fixed wireless service. Wisconsin was second only to California in the dollar amount allocated to states in the Connect America Fund II program administered by the FCC through 2020.

But while the number of Americans with access to high-speed internet – defined by the FCC as speeds of 25 megabits per second download and 3 mbps upload – has continually increased over the past 20 years, significant disparities separate urban and rural areas, according to a Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau report from last September.

In Wisconsin, 43% of rural residents lack access to high-speed internet, compared with about 31% nationwide, the report says.

Why the gap?

Sparsely populated communities can’t afford the necessary infrastructure. For example, fiberoptic cable laid under a mile of city blocks may cost $30,000 and yield 3,000 subscribers, at a total cost of $10 per subscriber. By contrast, cable laid under a mile of country roads may cost the same amount but yield only 100 subscribers, at a total cost of $300 per subscriber.

Internet service providers “typically invest in broadband infrastructure only if doing so will allow them both to recover their costs and to generate a profit from fees charged to customers &mldr; costs in rural areas tend to be significantly higher per person than in urban areas, and the potential profits are significantly lower,” the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau report says.

"Over the long term, revenues might outpace total costs. But over the short term, these losses make rural broadband infrastructure investment an unappealing prospect" for service providers.